Yesterday, all reports made it seem like Deng was on his way out. Now they're talking about offering him a contract extension? That doesn't make any sense. I like Deng a lot but his time in Chicago is up (only for the right deal though). The Bulls have Jimmy Butler to take his place.

I'd rather keep Deng on. Unless he wants to keep making 10+ (which he could probably still get somewhere). He'd be great to keep around, but only if gives us a locality discount so we can add another piece too.

I'm tired of hearing people that want to make Jimmy the 3. IMO he provides a much bigger mismatch at the 2. Few 2 guards could handle Jimmy's length, but he's still versatile enough to play him on 3s as well. And Deng is still a great defender at the 3. Both can play long minutes as well. Those 2 guys on the court with Derrick Rose would be a sight to see.

Yesterday, all reports made it seem like Deng was on his way out. Now they're talking about offering him a contract extension? That doesn't make any sense. I like Deng a lot but his time in Chicago is up (only for the right deal though). The Bulls have Jimmy Butler to take his place.

Dude you're insane. You fall for the same tricks OVER & OVER & OVER, smh.

And how realistic do you think it is that Luol takes less money to stay here?

The right price is; let him have his contract year, see how well he rises to the occasion and separates himself from Butler. I wouldn't touch his contract until after the trade deadline(for multiple reasons), but I would lead him on and make him feel like we're working for him until then.

If he somehow finds an extra gear because of the contract year, obviously he'll be worth more. If he doesn't perform, the result hurts a bunch for him, that works towards our advantage.

And no, I wont give a dollar estimate here, because this is a situation where his value can change drastically based on one season and being 29 years old(or a few weeks from it) when negotiations start. If this was a video game, I would want to lock him up for cheap, that's video game mentality. Too bad that would be the worst way to look at reality.

If Luol raises his value, that likely means we made the NBA Finals, then who is going to complain about bringing him back? If Luol screws up his opportunity, then we could be looking at a very nice drop in market value. Especially when teams with cap space now, are shooting for the stars(and will also put a damper on 2014). We're looking at a a high of 12m/y as a high market value, to a low of him being a potential MLE signing at ~6m/y. So anything in between is fair game, and that is a pretty wide margin IMO. I don't think a guy who has his face printed on money, will be after a massive contract(he WILL take a discount to win and be in the right situation.)

If we are to keep Deng, Im worried that we resign him for 8 mill+ a year, a player who may start to fall off over the next year or two. The other problem is that the development of Butler may be stunted if Deng stays at SF, which IMO is Butler's best position. Butler defended Lebron very well in the finals, something Deng hasn't done so well in the past.

Then you have to look at capspace. Do we want to lock up money in a player we essentially already have in Butler? Missing out on opportunities to sign players for our specific needs? Or capspace to sign a player who could really help us be certain contenders?

Its not the end of the world if we do sign him, but like Crystallas has mentioned, Id wait til the trade deadline midseason at least before I would start signing him up.

And how realistic do you think it is that Luol takes less money to stay here?

Locking him up for more than 8 mill a year would be a mistake IMO, and hurt our flexibility.

I think if he signs it will be 2 years 8 mill a year.

Why not look to get draft picks next year and a backup centre/solid SF for him? Same with Boozer.

If we look to trade Boozer and Deng this year, we can get something for them as teams will offer up good assets like draft picks to get decent expirers who can help them rebuild. If we do that, we can move Taj to starting PF, Butler to SF, Belli SG and whatever players we can get in return.

If we are to keep Deng, Im worried that we resign him for 8 mill+ a year, a player who may start to fall off over the next year or two. The other problem is that the development of Butler may be stunted if Deng stays at SF, which IMO is Butler's best position. Butler defended Lebron very well in the finals, something Deng hasn't done so well in the past.

Then you have to look at capspace. Do we want to lock up money in a player we essentially already have in Butler? Missing out on opportunities to sign players for our specific needs? Or capspace to sign a player who could really help us be certain contenders?

Its not the end of the world if we do sign him, but like Crystallas has mentioned, Id wait til the trade deadline midseason at least before I would start signing him up.

Deng's game in theory should translate well into mid/late 30s. He's not athleticism based, isn't a consistent cutter , and generally keeps himself in pretty good shape. He's got that sweet midrange game, and that corner 3 ability should stay as well. I think the only concern is playing him 45 minutes a game is going to eventually wear him down sooner rather than later. (late 80's celtics for example)

As far depending LeBron that's kinda like tomatoe or tomato. No one's ever consistently doing it because he's too good in today's NBA rules. Deng had that nice 4th quarter in the first or second time the two teams met this year where he just absolutely shut him down, unfortunately he sacrificed every damn bit of his offensive game to do it but yeah.

Really think whether he stays or goes depends on how much he's willing to sacrifice to do it.

If we look to trade Boozer and Deng this year, we can get something for them as teams will offer up good assets like draft picks to get decent expirers who can help them rebuild. If we do that, we can move Taj to starting PF, Butler to SF, Belli SG and whatever players we can get in return.

Nobody wants Boozer with his contract. He's less likely to be traded than Derrick Rose with that contract. Bulls fans need to get a Boozer trade out of their heads.